Layers of 1.2 μm thick TiN / TiAlN were deposited onto 316L stainless steel substrates by a plasma ion beam sputtering technique. The layers were sputtered in pure Ar and N2 with the ion beam voltage of 1 keV and ion beam current of 30mA. Polycrystalline nature with FCC structure was identified from XRD analysis. The presence of Ti, Al, C and N elements on the surface of the film was confirmed by the XPS survey spectrum taken on the surface of the coatings. The Ti2p region can be decomposed into several contributions corresponding to the different oxidation states of titanium. The columnar nature of growth was observed from the cross sectional HRTEM analysis. The nano-hardness of the TiN/TiAlNcoatings were found to be 30 GPa. The superior corrosion resistance in simulated body solution environment was observed for the multilayer coated specimen.

Layers of 1.2 μm thick TiN / TiAlN were deposited onto 316L stainless steel substrates by a plasma ion beam sputtering technique. The layers were sputtered in pure Ar and N2 with the ion beam voltage of 1 keV and ion beam current of 30mA. Polycrystalline nature with FCC structure was identified from XRD analysis. The presence of Ti, Al, C and N elements on the surface of the film was confirmed by the XPS survey spectrum taken on the surface of the coatings. The Ti2p region can be decomposed into several contributions corresponding to the different oxidation states of titanium. The columnar nature of growth was observed from the cross sectional HRTEM analysis. The nano-hardness of the TiN/TiAlNcoatings were found to be 30 GPa. The superior corrosion resistance in simulated body solution environment was observed for the multilayer coated specimen.